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How to Get Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

The verdict is in, Windows 10 is the free operating system you're going to want. Here's how to get and install it.

Michael Muchmore
Eric Griffith
 & Michael Muchmore Contributor
 & Eric Griffith Senior Editor, Features
Our Experts
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Microsoft's Windows 10 Fall Creators Update has arrived, and if you have any previous version of Windows 10, the upgrade is free.

For those with Windows 10, Microsoft recommends "you wait until Windows 10 is automatically offered to your device" via Windows Update, if you’ve opted for automatic updates on your device.

"Once the download is complete and the update is ready to install, we’ll check with you, so you can pick the right time to finish the installation and reboot," Microsoft says. "We do this so we can ensure the update does not disrupt you, and we use active hours to help suggest a good time."

If you want Creators Update sooner, check for it manually via Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Check for updates.

Once it's installed, you're ready to go; here's what to check out. For everyone else: you blew it. As of July 2016, those still on Windows 7 or 8 have to pay up to $200 for Windows 10.

Last month, about 29 percent of worldwide PCs were running Windows 10; Windows 7 is still most popular with 47 percent, according to Net Applications. So there are still quite a few people who have yet to experience Windows 10.

If you're ready to try it, check if your PC can even run Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Chances are good that it can; the system requirements are not extremely demanding.

If that's a go, back up your files. Remember, a new operating system is a non-trivial upgrade, and even though Windows 10 has been tested on millions of PCs already, there's a chance your particular combination of hardware, drivers, and software could trip up the new OS.

Getting Started

To buy a copy of Windows 10, point your web browser to microsoft.com/windows. Click Windows 10 > Get Windows 10 > Get Windows 10 OS > Next. You'll get a warning that if your PC is more than three years old it may not support "the innovative features of Windows 10." Just click the Get Windows 10 OS option again. Then you pick if you want it for Home, School/Education, or Business.

On the next page, you can choose to get Windows 10 Home, Pro, or S, though the last one is not really for sale; it's only available if you purchase a Surface Laptop. (Windows 10 S is the student-focused version of Windows 10 that only runs apps you get from the Windows Store, though it's upgradeable for a time to Windows 10 Home.)

Choose to download the installation software or have a USB thumb drive sent to you. If you are a system builder or a Mac user wanting to install Windows using Boot Camp, the Windows 10 USB installer makes more sense. You can also get Windows 10 via the online Microsoft Store, and have it sent to your home or pick it up at an actual Microsoft Store. The price is the same either way.

Note that anyone can go to the Download Windows 10 page at Microsoft and download the upgrade software to Windows 10, and even use the Media Tool available there to make a USB drive with the installer software. But you can't just install it any computer; the PC has to have a valid Windows 10 product key (that 25-digit alpha-numeric Microsoft sticks on everything its sells). Without the product key, the software won't install, so you still have to pay. It is, however, a smart thing to do after you install Windows 10, so you'll have an easy replacement (assuming you didn't buy the USB drive version in the first place). This is also a good way to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit, or go from Home to Pro.

Install the Operating System

Run the setup. You'll see this message box telling you that the setup is preparing itself:

Preparing Windows 10 Upgrade

The setup program downloads updates and restarts itself. Next you OK the license terms, and finally it's ready to start the actual upgrade:

Ready to Install Windows 10

In a very welcome change from Windows 8.x, the Windows 10 upgrader keeps your installed software in place, and unless it's very old—for example it uses 16-bit code—the software should run. If you have problems, you can right-click on the program file and choose "Troubleshoot compatibility." If you want a fresh start and don't want to keep programs or data files, you can make that choice in this screen during the setup process:

Windows 10 - What to Keep

Here's what you'll see during the first part of the installation:

Installing Windows 10

After that, there's a second setup phase during which you'll see a circular percent countdown (pardon the photo quality-there's no way to do a screen capture at this stage).

Upgrading Windows 10

Assuming your microphone is detected early on, even the Cortana voice-activated assistant will jump in to help with the install, letting you say "yes" aloud to answer questions like what kind of keyboard setup you want. It's handy if you've got Windows 10 installing on a PC that's across the room.

The entire process may take as little as 20 minutes or as much as an hour, depending on your configuration.

The Loophole

There is still one way to get Windows 10 as an upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 without paying: use the operating system's Assistive Technology. Sight-impaired users can get enlarged screen views with Magnifier or voice control for everything with Narrator; people who have trouble clicking a mouse get tools to make it easier, and more. The 2016 Anniversary Update improved several of Windows 10's existing accessibility features.

There's no requirement to use specific assistive technologies; you can still get this upgrade even if you use assistive tech from a third-party company. Microsoft hasn't commented on whether it's checking whether those who take advantage of this offer are actually using the assistive technologies, but the download page says: "If you use assistive technology on Windows, you are eligible for the free upgrade offer." Microsoft still hasn't announced an end date to this offer.

Going the Other Way

What if you make the upgrade to Windows 10 and you don't like what you see? Microsoft has another surprise that breaks remarkably from the past: You have one month (and only one month) to go back to your previous operating system version.

Downgrade Windows 10

But we really doubt you'll want to make that choice. For the full rundown of what's new in Microsoft's latest desktop operating system, read PCMag's in-depth review of Windows 10.

About Our Experts

Michael Muchmore

Michael Muchmore

Contributor

My Experience

I've been testing PC and mobile software for more than 20 years, focusing on photo and video editing, operating systems, and web browsers. Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech and headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team. I’ve attended trade shows for Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.

I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft misstep and win, up to the latest Windows 11.

I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical music fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.

Technology I Use

For everyday work, I use a good-old Dell tower with 16GB of RAM, a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti GPU that runs on Windows 11. I pair it with a 4K Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-10 monitor and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. For offsite work, I use a 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Camera-wise, I moved to mirrorless from a Canon EOS 80D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. I now have a Canon EOS R7 with a 100-400mm lens, but I miss my DSLR for several reasons.

In order of usage, the software I turn to most frequently is the Edge web browser, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Firefox, Brave, and WhatsApp. I use the Windows Phone link app to see everything on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone, which has excellent telephoto capability.

For fitness monitoring, I have a Fitbit Charge 6 and use an Anker Smart Scale P1. I’m also a streaming fan, so I subscribe to both Amazon Music Unlimited (especially for its Dolby Atmos content) and Qobuz (for its high-res sound quality and classical catalog). I recently added a Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE, which sounds surprisingly good given its low price. To holler commands instead of using a remote control, I have the Amazon Fire TV Cube in the living room, which lets me verbally tell the TV what I want to watch. It hooks up to an LG B4 OLED TV. I have a Sonos One speaker in my kitchen that also ties in with Alexa, as does the Echo Dot 2 With Clock in my bedroom. For serious listening, I have B&W 601 speakers plugged into a Conrad-Johnson Sonographe amp and preamp, with a Cambridge Audio AXN10 streamer as source. For reading, I also have a Nook GlowLight 3.

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Eric Griffith

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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